Readmissions Roundup: How Much Will Medicare Penalties Cost Individual Hospitals?

Earlier this month, a Kaiser Health News analysis found that 2,211 hospitals will face Medicare penalties under the Readmissions Reduction Program, but what are some of the actual costs for individual hospitals?

Terry Lynam, vice president of public relations at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System based in Manhasset, N.Y., told Becker's Hospital Review that North Shore University Hospital would see a penalty of about $1.8 million in Medicare reimbursements, one of the higher amounts because North Shore received the maximum penalty of 1 percent.

Several academic medical centers were also hit with above-average penalties. Michael Rutherford, CFO of Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, told The Columbus Dispatch the hospital received a 0.64 percent cut to Medicare payments, which is roughly $700,000. Vanderbilt University Medical Center will lose up to $1 million from its 0.62 percent cut, according to a Nashville Business Journal report.